Process of and apparatus for purifying water



(N0 Model.)

D. HANNA. A 2 PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR PURIFYING WATER.

Pattant edJuIyZB, 1893.

v ll/ v ATTES;

[NYE/V TOR David Hanna;

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID HANNA, OF OGDENSBURG, NEW YORK.

PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR PURIFYING WATER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 502,252, dated July 25, 1893.

Application filed June 30, 1891.

T0 at whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, DAVID HANNA, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Ogdensburg, in the county of St. Lawrence and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Process of and Apparatus for Purifying Water; and Ido hereby declare that the'following is a full, clear, and.

exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to which my invention relates to make and 'use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, and in which-- Figure 1. is an end sectional view of the apparatus in position upon a steam boiler; and Fig. 2. is an upright sectional view of the spring check valve employed in the said apparatus as hereinafter described.

Like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the above figures.

My invention has relation to the manner of purifying water by feeding it within the highly heated steam space of any steam boiler or steam generator; and it consists, first, in an improved process or methodof separating the impurities from the water, and secondly, in an improved apparatus or device for effecting this, as shall hereinafter be more fully described and claimed.

Reference being had to the accompanying drawings, A denotes the shell of the steam boiler or generator, to which is detachably secured, by means of a screw thread or other known suitable device, the spring check valve, (the shell of which is represented by 13,) having an internal spider or yoke, 19', cast integrally therewith; which spider supports a cylindrical well or cup, b,in which well or cup the hollow, cylindrical Valve stem 0 is reciprocated by means of the force of water above the valve and the spiral spring,

0 carrying the valve puppet O, (which in Fig. 2. is shown open,) within the upper part of which puppet is contained the annular packing 0 held in place by the winged nut or guide 0 attached thereto by means of the screw 0. 1

Within the upper part of the shell B is screwed the hollow cap D, having the guide walls d and annular valve seat c" shown, into the upper end of which cap Dis secured Serial No. 398,050- (No model.)

the feed pipe F, by means of the ordinary screw thread or other suitable known device.

The funnel shaped vessel or basin E is secured within the boiler at such distance from the discharge opening of the said spring check valve that the particles of solids contained in the water to be purified will be thrown into the said collecting basin; but the upper rim of said basin must be placed above the water line and within the steam space of the boiler. This vessel has an outlet pipe G at its lower end, which passes outside of the boiler and is there provided with a stop-cock H. The upper end of'the collecting basin E mayhave an inturned rim as shown, for the purpose of preventing the contents of the collecting basin from being thrown therefrom by the sudden lurching of the boiler when in a position liable to sudden movements; as that of a marine or locomotive engine or such inturned rim may be omitted upon stationary boilers, without atfooting the working of said apparatus.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows, (the water being fed through the same only when the boiler contains steam:) The feed water is forced against the action of the spiral spring 0 allowing the water to flow past the spider b and through the discharge opening in the shell of the valve B shown; in a coherent mass or dense unbroken body of water, in contradistinction to the presenting of the feed water to the action of the steam in a broken, sprayed or otherwise diffused form, as heretofore done. This coherent mass of water thereupon encounters the hot steam within the steam space of the boiler, which steam turns the feed water to vapor before it reaches the collecting basin E, or the water already contained in the boiler, but does not vaporize it sufficiently close to the valve discharge opening as to allow the foreign particles separated therefrom to ad- 5 here to and build upon its walls; as is the case when the feed water is presented to the steam in a diffused state or allowed to flow over metallic surfaces within the steam as heretofore; thereby dangerously diminishing the capacity of the feeding apparatus to supply water to the boiler. The impurities and foreign matter in the feed water, which will not vaporize by the heat of the steam, are then by the initial velocity imparted to them when forced into the boiler, projected into the said collecting basin E, from the sides of which they slide down into the pipe G, and upon the opening of the stop-cock II are conveyed outside of the boiler by the force of steam within the boiler.

In the process formerly employed by me in purifying water, embodied in Letters Patent of the United States No. 306,606, issued to me October 14, 1884, I first sprayed the water before introducing it within the steam space of the boiler; but I found after a number of experiments that this was unnecessary and unsafe when the steam into which the water was forced was sufficiently heated; as when so heated it would almost instantly vaporize the water so presented to its action, and allow the incrustation to take place on the walls of the feeder dangerously diminishing the ca-' pacity of its outlet, especially so when the feed water was heated before being introduced into the steam space, and that this rapid vaporization of the feed water served also to disintegrate and present to the action of fresh steam the fresh feed water entering the boiler. Indeed, so rapid was the vaporization in some instances that it would, when the spraying device shown in Letters Patent No. 306,606 above refered to was removed, amount almost to an explosion which would rapidly force back against the pump or check valve, the body of water within the feed pipe so as to produce severe pounding therein, in some instances fracturing the feed pipe. To avoid this action when the spraying device was removed I found it necessary to place a check valve as close to the discharge opening of the feed pipe as possible and yet not break or diffuse the stream of water entering the boiler; the effect of the check valve being to prevent a retrograde movement of any considerable amount of water in the feed pipe, and thus prevent the pounding spoken of. This valve I provide with a spring to return it to its seat for two reasons: First, to keep the feed water within the feed pipe when pressure of the steam is removed from within the boiler, and secondly, to prevent the dripping of water from the feed pipe and admission of steam therein when the feed pump is not Working, which would allow a formation of scale to build on the discharge opening of the feed pipe.

It will be observed that I extend the walls of the check valve shell suiiiciently down beyond the puppet of the valve and supporting spider to form an unobstructed nozzle, which will allow the water to enter the boiler in a coherent mass and not difiused, broken or sprayed. I prefer to make this nozzle cylindrical in form, as that shape presents the feed water to the steam in the most compact form; but I do not wish to limit myself to this particular shape, as any shape of discharge opening may be used such as a square, oval, hollow cylinderJpolygon, the, provided the stream of incoming water is not diffused, broken up or sprayed when presented to the action of the steam so as to allow scale to build on the discharge opening as above explained. It is also essential to the proper working of my said invention that the steam space into which the feed Water is injected through the feed nozzle, be so unobstructed as to allow free and rapid circulation of the highly heated steam toward the incoming water, and equally free circulation of the resulting vapor away from the incoming water; or otherwise the feed water will be carried into the collecting basin and wash the foreign particles collected therein over its sides and into the body of Water in the boiler, thereby neutralizing the advantage of their previous separation.

With the device described, and with the steam within the boiler heated to a temperature proportioned to the body of water forced into such steam, I find the feed water becomes vaporized with sufficient rapidity to part with the particles of foreign substances held therein, either in solution or snspension,to allow such particles to be caught in the collecting basin described; so as to prevent their mingling with the body of water within the boiler and incrusting the shell and tubes thereof and also to prevent sufficient water reaching the collecting basin to overflow the same.

I' have thus, by the means explained, rendered the process much simpler, and under the conditions named, safer than when the feed Water was presented to the action of the steam in diifused stream or streams by means of the sprayer or other devices formerly employed.

Having thus described my invention and the means of operating the same, What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-- 1. The process of separating impurities from water, which consists in forcibly injecting a coherent mass or thick stream of water into the highly heated and unobstructed steam within the boiler, thereby vaporizing the feed water before it reaches the collecting vessel or body of water in the boiler, separating the impurities from the feed water while being vaporized and-allowing them to drop through the unobstructed vapor within the steam space of the boiler, collecting the impurities so separated from the water and conducting them outside the boiler before they mingle with the body of water within the boiler.

2. The herein described water purifying apparatus for steam boilers, the same comprising a boiler provided with a valve controlled open mouthed feed-water nozzle discharging into the steam space thereof; said boiler being further provided with a collectin g basin having a valve controlled discharge pipe, the mouth of said basin being directly under the feed water inlet and slightly above the water level of the boiler; whereby a coherent stream of feed water may be discharged directly into the steam space, be afforded space therein in which to be immediately vaor precipitate upon any of the other parts thereof or of the feeding apparatus, as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereunto ahixedmy signature :0 in presence of two witnesses.

DAVID HANNA.

Witnesses:

LoUIs HASBROUOK, JAMES F. AKINS. 

